Development and promotion of Mediterranean Sustainable Adventure Tourism

Tourism in the Mediterranean is a key driver for socio-economic progress and a major income source for many of its countries. Some of the sectorial challenges lie within the predominance of mass seaside tourism and the seasonality of the industry. MEDUSA project tackles these challenges via targeted cross-border interventions in to develop and promote Adventure Tourism (AT), as a sustainable niche in the tourism market that provides the opportunity to reveal lesser-known destinations and attract tourists throughout the whole year. MEDUSA project is co-financed by the European Union under the European Neighborhood Instrument cross-border cooperation program “Mediterranean Sea Basin” 2014-2020 (ENI CBC MED).

The countries and entities involved in this project include:

Spain: Lead Beneficiary is the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce. In partnership with the Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Jordan: the Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association – JITOA. and the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature - RSCN.

Lebanon: Rene Moawad Foundation.

Italy: Puglia Region – Department of Tourism, economy of culture and valorization of territory

Tunisia: World Wildlife Foundation North Africa - WWFNA

Specific objectives:

The overall objective of the project is to develop a competitive form of adventure tourism in the Mediterranean, that is based on environmental, social and economic sustainability values.

Concretely MEDUSA aims to:
• Identify and valorize territorial assets for developing AT products, especially off-season, based on a thorough understanding of market demand drivers, supply and competitiveness variables.

• Promote a multi-stakeholder engagement to capacity building and exchange of experiences and adopt strategic alliances that will formalize roles and responsibilities for AT destination stewardships.

• Implement pilot actions rolling out improved and new AT products, as well as develop and promote tourism packages through a cross-border marketing alliances to international source markets.

Key Outcomes

The ambition of the project is to increase the visibility and attractiveness of less known destinations, resulting in increased international tourist arrivals in the targeted regions. Furthermore, an equalization of tourist streams in terms of seasonality and geographical areas results in a more balanced distribution of income and strain on the territory and population. A sustainability-oriented approach to tourism management safeguards biodiversity, wildlife, natural and cultural resources, as well as rural communities.

The project started in September 2019 and is expected to end April 2023.

For more information, please visit http://www.enicbcmed.eu/projects/medusa

Contacts:

Lina Al Khaled, Project Leader: lina@jitoa.org
Rawan Atallah, Tourism Development Expert: rawan@jitoa.org